The Graham Norton Show. Graham Norton. Credit: So Television, Christopher Baines
The Graham Norton Show

The Graham Norton Show

  • TV chat show
  • BBC One / BBC Two
  • 2007 - 2024
  • 494 episodes (31 series)

Comic chat show presented by Graham Norton. The biggest names in showbiz join the host on his sofa.

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Series 17, Episode 7 - George Clooney, The Rock, Britt Robertson, Hugh Laurie, Jessica Hynes, Snoop Dogg

George Clooney talks about how the pranks he loves to play might get him arrested; Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson talks about his early wrestling days; Hugh Laurie reveals he's forgotten everything about House; Jessica Hynes shows off her rapping skills; while Britt Robertson says she was taught the movie star run; and Snoop Dogg performs live in the studio.

Preview clips

Further details

George Clooney, talking about settling in the UK says, "We've bought a place in a wonderful little town called Sonning and we are re-doing the house so that we can live in it, which would be nice. We will move in in a couple of months."

Asked if he has a normal life there, he jokes, "Yes, we do normal things - there's a bathroom and we use it!" Adding, "There's a great pub we go to. It's fantastic and we drink all kinds of pints of things." Asked if the pub stocks his own brand Tequila, he says, "I bought them a few bottles - I deliver now."

Talking about his new movie, Tomorrowland A World Beyond, he says, "Brad Bird the director sent me the script and said a part had been written for me, which I thought was great. I read the description and it said, '50 year old bitter has-been' and I thought, 'You wrote that for me, that's so nice. Thank you very much!'"

Revealing that attending Comic-Con during his honeymoon to promote the movie didn't go down well with Amal, he says: "I got the call while on my honeymoon and was told it was really important that I fly in. First I had to explain that to my wife which didn't play well. And then, the whole idea of spending part of your honeymoon with people dressed up like Captain Kirk and Star Wars characters somehow wasn't easy to explain to my new bride. But, I showed up and it was actually fun."

Talking about playing a superhero in the 1990s, he says, "I always apologise for Batman And Robin. It was a disaster and I actually thought I had destroyed the franchise until they brought it back years later. I thought at the time it was going to be a really good career move... it wasn't!" Explaining why he hated the experience, he says, "The costume was brutal to wear and the director's idea of direction was to shout through a megaphone, 'George, your parents are dead and you have nothing to live for... and action!'" He adds with irony, "It was a fantastic experience."

George, talking about his big break in ER 21 years ago, says "I worked for a long time before that in a lot of questionable shows and everything changed overnight. We went from obscurity to 45 million people watching and everyone obsessed with the show. Before that I remember we had just shot the pilot and we all went to the local restaurant to eat still dressed in our medical scrubs. When a child started to choke on a French fry and we all started shouting, 'Someone do something' everyone stared at us expecting us to do something as they thought we were doctors!"

Asked if he is musical, given his family heritage, he says, "My aunt was a very famous singer called Rosemary Clooney, my father actually had an album and my other aunt Betty was a famous singer but my mother has no musical skills at all and she messed up the gene pool. I didn't know I couldn't sing, I thought I could and when we were doing O Brother, Where Art Thou? the Cohen brothers sort of assumed that I could sing because I was Rosemary Clooney's nephew, everyone assumed I could. So when I finished recording a song for the soundtrack no one said anything and just stared at the ground. When they played it back it sounded like a baby seal being killed and I thought, 'Oh my god, it's terrible,' but I didn't want to say that so I said, 'it sounds great!' I eventually said how bad it was and they brought a guy to do my voice and sing the song and it was a massive hit! They don't let me sing anywhere now."

Talking about the pranks he plays on his friends he says, "When we were filming The Monuments Men, Matt [Damon] was trying to lose a few pounds and was only eating salad and was really serious about losing weight. I had the wardrobe girl take in his costume in by just a quarter of an inch each day. He was then just eating a grape and saying, 'I don't understand why I'm getting fatter.' I did that for about three weeks!"

Asked about the ongoing pranks between him and Brad Pitt, he says, "I'm not sure how it started but we have done some terrible things to each other. I had some stationery made up with his name on and would then send letters to other actors from Brad Pitt. I sent Meryl Streep a letter from him with a whole stack of dialect coach CDs saying that they may help her for her role in The Iron Lady. I have sent letters to lots and lots of people from Brad and I don't tell either of them what I have done for a year or two and they are like, 'Are you kidding me?' I'm doing one now that I can't tell you about but in a year you are going to hear I've been arrested - I'm not kidding because I think I've crossed the line. It's exciting. But, I have a wife, she's a barrister, I'll be fine!"

Hugh Laurie, talking about his iconic character, Doctor House, says, "I can't remember any of the lines at all but when 'action' is shouted I start limping. I'm like a dog that's been prodded with electrodes." Asked by George if he ever limped on the other side, Hugh says, "I switched the side I limped on and the side I used the cane and no one noticed!"

Asked if he back in the UK for good, he says, "Yes but I did eventually buy a house in LA. The rest of the cast bought straight away but I lived out of a suitcase for a year and a half. Then I dipped my toe in the water and bought a kettle, that was commitment to the country and the first seedling of buying somewhere."

Talking about the stunts on the new movie he co-stars with George in, Hugh says "We trained and got very physical on judo mats. I had to throw a punch at George and I was wearing this huge ring that missed him by a skin cell. I could have damaged the most handsome man on the planet."

Britt Robertson, asked if working with George and Hugh in the movie was intimidating she says, "In the lead up to it maybe, but once I got to know them it was like any working environment, well sort of!"

Revealing how she was instructed by the stunt co-ordinator, she says, "He asked me if I would like to learn how to do a 'movie star run'. It's a real thing." Doubted by Graham, George leaps to her defence by demonstrating his own movie star run.

Snoop Dogg performs Peaches N Cream live in the studio before joining Graham, Dwayne Johnson and Jessica Hynes for a chat about his new album.

Dwayne, talking about his early days in wrestling, says "I had no song, no trunks and no boots. Most people had wrestled in the school gym, but the first time I did it was in front of 20,000 people. I borrowed my uncle's trunks and the boots were too small. I was asked what song I wanted to walk out to and as I didn't have one they put on some techno garbage. When I walked out the whole place shouted, 'You Suck!'" Adding, ironically, "It was beautiful."

Asked about doing his own stunts, he says, "It's not an ego thing, I want to be tied into the action." Talking about his powerful physique, which he maintains on 6000 calories a day, and asked whether he is frightened of killing anyone in a stunt scene, he says, "When I was in The Scorpion King I wound up hitting a stunt man, I clocked him really hard and he went down. I felt so bad I bought him a Rolex watch. I did notice, when the story got out, that guys would lean in a little close for a punch!"

And on his wrestling heritage, he says, "I am third generation, but my dad was against me following him into the sport. He hated the idea and we had a massive fight and there were tears and emotions and I didn't understand it until he said, 'I've been in this business for 40 years and I live in a little apartment that cost $500 a month. I don't want that for you.' I finally understood and told him it was something I had to try and would he train me. He said, 'I've got your back, I'll train you.' What he really meant was, 'I'll kick your ass every night for the next year!"

Jessica, talking about her BAFTA winning role in W1A, she says, "It was Kismet. John Morton the writer wrote a character who's voice was one of the character's that I'd always done for family and friends."

Revealing she wasn't the first actress offered the part she says, "I was called at the last minute because someone had dropped out." Declining to name the actress, she says, "She was much smaller that me so I had a very depressing first day in wardrobe - nothing fitted."

Asked about her ability to rap, she says, "I learnt to do it when I was a teen." At Snoop Dogg's request, she performs a few lines from the rap, which he declares, "Awesome!"

Broadcast details

Date
Friday 22nd May 2015
Time
10:35pm
Channel
BBC One
Length
60 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Monday 25th May 2015 12:00am BBC1
Monday 25th May 2015 12:35am BBC1 Wales
Tuesday 26th May 2015 12:00am BBC1
Tuesday 26th May 2015 12:35am BBC1 Wales

Cast & crew

Cast
Graham Norton Host / Presenter
Guest cast
Hugh Laurie Guest
Calvin Broadus (as Snoop Dogg) Guest
George Clooney Guest
Dwayne Johnson Guest
Britt Robertson Guest
Jessica Hynes Guest
Writing team
Rob Colley Writer
Dan Gaster Writer
Production team
Steve Smith Director
Jon Magnusson Series Producer
Rina Dayalji Producer
Pete Snell Producer
Graham Stuart Executive Producer
Perry Widdowson Editor
Chris Webster Production Designer
Jonathan Whitehead (as Trellis) Composer

Videos

The Rock's catchphrases

Dwayne Johnson aka 'The Rock' chats about, and then demonstrates, his catchphrases.

Featuring: Graham Norton & Dwayne Johnson.

George Clooney's honeymoon at Comic Con

George Clooney jokes about attending Comic Con during his honeymoon and playing Batman.

Featuring: Graham Norton, Hugh Laurie, George Clooney & Britt Robertson.

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